I think Oprah needs to lose some weight. She should stop thinking about food so much.
fatass!

Oh Oprah. She should have realized the frenzy she'd cause. I'm sure KFC is pissed.

I guess I can say that I partook in the KFC free offer. My mom (who's a big Oprah's watcher), printed out the coupons for our family yesterday afternoon. Hmm.
Probably will be using them coupons before it's expired, not in a hurry though since I haven't really been interested in going to KFC (haven't been there for 5 years at least).

How about it's somewhat ridiculous for a woman who's always yo-yo dieting and exploiting her weight problems to offer free fast food coupons?

I took my parents yesterday so they could get theirs (I'm not a big KFC fan) - the store I went to was very much overwhelmed - but somehow, they kept their heads together and took care of everyone that came in the door and the drive-thru with a coupon. I really did feel bad for the staff yesterday, especially since it appears it was a last-minute promo thing. That KFC is the only one here in town, and I've just never seen a staff look so bewildered.

If Oprah's taking care of this whole deal with the chicken dinners, she really needs to do something separate for the KFC managers and employees that found themselves overwhelmed with this.

well anything that oprah does is going to get talked about and i think that it's a craze that people should just get over. i can't believe that people are so upset about all this. first of all - she was promoting a company that probably paid something to get a mention on the show (that's usually how it works on shows like that).

I'm sure KFC knew about the coupons and agreed for marketing and promotional recognition - no need to complain on that front. They want to push their product and now people want to take advantage of the free items. I just wonder how much will the need or want die down after the coupons expire. Will people really eat the baked chicken - didn't they have rotisserie a couple of years ago, where did that go?

Peta needs to stop crying about everything. Makes me want to eat chicken in front of every single member of their organization.

I love animals, but I hate hate hate PETA.

And of COURSE KFC knew about this promo - look at how much publicity they're getting.

I'm really hating these anonymous comments, seriously.

Back to topic, If KFC knew about this promotion, then they should have been more prepared. Most people hear the words "free food" and all hell tends to break loose. And while I don't agree with PETA 99% of the time (even those I do support more humane treatment of animals) I agree that for someone who always talks about the horrors or animal cruelty, she picked the wrong horse to back, so to speak.

*even though I do support (sorry, typo)

KFC's main office might have known about the promo - but it's clear to me that the individual stores did not. They should have kept them well-stocked for this.

agreed @Smacks83, anonymous comments are usually flagrant and unnecessary and THAT'S why they are anonymous.

How could KFC not know about it? You can't just announce this without them agreeing to it. Anyway, after I heard how they treat their chickens, I have been turned off eating there for a long time!

even when i knew nothing about nutrition i found their stuff way too salty.

the way i see it, whether it's grilled or not, there is no healthy food at KFC, and with oprah and all her weight problems she should be endorsing a healthier alternative, say $10-$20 coupon at whole foods or something like that.

wow. who would have guessed that by googling "fried chicken & oprah" would allow me to read about fried chicken and oprah? thanks sid!

GET THESE ANONYMOUS COMMENTS OFF OF THIS SITE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well nothing lasts forever even fame right? its only a matter of time and everyone steps on their Richard so to speak... for those that don't get the Richard thing shouldn't anyway

This was a great move by Oprah! She's not a vegetarian. She's promoting the new Grilled Chicken not the fried chicken. KFC and the general public should be thanking Oprah! Everything that she touches turns to PLATINUM! KFC is going to make a killing. Bringing in customers that wouldn't normally even think to eat at KFC... I love you Oprah!

Well that explains the freakishly long lines at KFC yesterday.... We were trying to figure out what was going on....

Oh good grief. PETA .. Oprah didn't make a mistake. PETA is just stupid.

oprah is not to blame.. PETA is ridiculous.. clearly KFC knew about this much ahead of time.. and the people at the "sit-ins" probably not the most mature or educated persons.

no one can do anything these days without coming under fire for it from some group.

Yay. This is awesome news because I hate PETA.

i think Oprah was very generous in offering the meal to America. The KFC stores here in Hattiesburg,MS have stopped honoring the coupons, according to a manager I talked with today. I received my free meal, but many people were locked out of the store after 1pm. today. The manager claimed there was an error in the coupons and that was the reason. Many people in this town and never received their meal. I asked the mananger how would others know that your store stopped honoring the coupons and she said "I'll let the higher-ups deal with that." Thanks Oprah for my free meal. The grilled chicked was tender and tasted pretty good.

Print out your coupons and donate your meals to the homeless or less fortunate, people who don't have access to a computer,etc.

The new chicken is "healthier" if you look at the nutritional info, I would try it for sure. Though the two sides and biscuit you get with the chicken.... uhhhhh not healthy and would cancel out the grilled chicken in my opinion.

I used to love Oprah and now she just annoys me for the most part. I don't think she really should have offered this, it's causing more problems than good.

As for PETA, yeah, they have a problem with everything... they are perfect, ya know? ; )

*Just to clarify and prevent some one misreading my words... the last part of my comment was pure sarcasm.

I love animals but I hate PETA and their constant terrorizing of everyone who disagrees with them. I don't even take them seriously anymore.
As for Oprah...meh

KFC totally knew about this promo. They've been trying to encourage people to try their grilled chicken, so I'm sure they were in cahoots with Oprah to do the promo thing. If the managers at the individual stores are pissed, that's their problem. They should have figured on increased traffic...it's kind of a no-brainer.

I myself don't really like KFC, but I know my husband does. He's in Yuma, AZ right now, so I called him to tell him about the coupon. He downloaded it so he could get a free lunch one day while he's down there.

Don't associate PETA with well-meaning people who are trying to be animal activists. We're not all crazy like PETA is.

I dont like Oprah but I like free stuff. and hey at least someone is doing something to try and stimulate the economy, times are tuff right now and I feed my fmaily of four for under $5 inlcuding desert. Thanks for the free Chicken. I sure appreciate it.

At the KFC I was at, the manager there said she knew nothing about the promotion until she checked her email yesterday morning and it was in there. KFC seriously dropped the ball in not preparing their franchises for this.

How pompous it is for anyone to assume that it's just the managers' problem, and they should deal with it. If I'd been the manager at that particular KFC, I sure would have been on the phone cursing out somebody at the corporate office for that. How is any manager going to figure on increased traffic if they don't know about it till the day the promo started??

As for PETA - they can find the nearest fire hydrant and do a couple of deep knee bends on it.

how could the manger's of KFC not know? we don't have tv and i heard about it from half a dozen people, and i posted it on here on chatter. oprah was trying to be nice, if kfc wasn't prepared this is on them.

They made billions off of everyone for many,many years,it's time to give something back,they are not losing a dime and people who work there be glad you have a job since you weren't getting a lot of business anyway,it's about time someone is getting something free,I print many and gave many away to people without computers

I won't say how I know, but the news broke on Friday May 1 about the Oprah coupon. Managers did not have a lot of time to prepare, if any. I feel sorry for the managers and people working in the stores, they weren't trained to handle this kind of business, when is the last time you actually saw anyone at a KFC? My past experiences have been horrible. The stores are understaffed and dirty and they are always out of something or having some kind of problem. They never seemed to be honoring promotions or had very misleading advertising. KFC has never really gotten their act together anyway, but kudos for everyone trying :-\

lickety split: Right. The CORPORATE office knew about it. The MANAGERS at the different restaurants evidently didn't. As I said, they can't react or prepare for something they don't KNOW about. Yeah, Oprah was nice about it, but shame on KFC's corporate office for not keeping the stores (and their managers) better informed or prepared about this kind of thing.

I work for a hotel that is part of a national chain. When they do promotions, they are supposed to let every hotel in their chain know about it, so that the properties can be informed and involved, and better prepared to handle inquiries and questions regarding the advertised promo. If it's done at the last minute - as this seems to have been, at least from the store's perspective - how is the manager of that store supposed to know that they need to schedule extra people and order extra chicken? Just because you and I saw it on TV or heard it from everyone else doesn't necessarily mean that THEY did.

I'm coming to THEIR defense because clearly, no one thought of the managers and employees when this decision was so poorly thought out. While you were standing in line for hours and hours getting your chicken, you were probably getting pissed off because they were being slow with getting it out there - never mind that they already had to deal with a bazillion more people before YOU came in to claim that meal you feel so entitled to.

Don't be so quick to take those fast food employees for granted. Especially since some of you on your high horse here would likely NOT take that job at all, opting instead to hit the lottery or wait for that $15/hr job where you can sit on your computer and surf the Internet all day long.

First of all, I saw the episode and it was made very clear that KFC was giving the chicken away - not Oprah. She was just the voice behind the offer, trying to make an offer to everyone, not just her studio audience. Nice thought, if you ask me. When you go to her site to do the download you are redirected to a KFC site to access the coupon (not that I could get it because it would not print and said that it did).
Regarding the nutritional aspects, Oprah explained that each piece of chicken was 80 calories and 4 grams of fat and showed the various side options and there were healthier options including vegetables and cole slaw, instead of the carb/fat heavy mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese and biscuit. I think she was very responsible in how she presented this free meal and do not feel that she should be blamed for the problems that have arisen.
KFC Corporate obviously handled this poorly. They did not prepare their stores for the heavy demand - and there are ways they could have done it without spilling the beans. They could have informed the stores in a timely manner that they needed to up their normal orders over a short period of time and to increase staffing on a particular date to account for a suprise promotion that would be taking place, and then give them the specifics of what that promotion was at the time that Oprah announced the free meals. The fact that the stores were unable to handle the traffic that came through and cancelled the promotions is a shame and will most definitely have some negative impacts on a company that really needed something positive in this economically difficult time.

I saw Oprah eat a box of Krispy Cream donuts and an entire bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken when she was working for WJZ TV in Baltimore and I was a intern there. This was not a pretty sight in fact I've never forgotten it!

Brandi13jrm - I would just like to say your comment inspired me. I printed out a number of the coupons, but with the lines at our local KFC being out the door, haven't gone to get my families free meals... but your comment to donate the coupons was a perfect idea. My church runs a food pantry each week - and I know most of the people who come don't have computers or access... I will take mine down there and pass them out. Thank you!

This was quite the hooplah the other day.

so ridiculous. now Oprah cannot do anything without a controversy. it doesnt matter how she does it, when why... the end result is the same. people just like to hate her

Well done Oprah! Fat American’s really need another reason to gorge themselves on junk masquerading as health food. Funny how the most “nutrition-conscious” country in the world is also the one with the highest levels of diet-related disease. Let's not pretend that there is anything even remotely valuable in consuming these mass produced, antibiotic laden, inhumanely slaughtered birds. Get a clue you overweight hypocrite. Eat less. Eat mostly plants. Move more. It’s not exactly difficult.

And regardless of any opinions on PETA, anyone with half a brain knows that eating less meat is the best way to improve your health and help the environment. A public figure promoting American consumption of meat in a time when there are still food shortages in other parts of the world and food production is being challenged by climate change is simply an irresponsible idiot.

While I think they can be totally ridiculous, PETA has a point here. KFC's chicken is loaded with unnecessary growth hormones from chickens who had their beaks cut off and became too huge to even stand up. Even though I'm not a vegetarian, I try my hardest not to support any CAFOs and figured that the person who was just named Person of the Year would, too. It's super hypocritical.

Something for nothing + Black people =

I took the coupons to KFC. They refused to honor them. Said there were rumors of counterfiet coupons. Said they would mail them in and mail me back coupons they would honor. That was over a month ago. I'll never support KFC again.

KFC workers protest Oprah. Simply stated.